http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...-titans-prepping-for-possible-jay-cutler-deal Good news for the Jets if true.
I heard Mike Shanahan would 'love to coach Jay again'. Could see him going to the Bears, Cutler isn't going anywhere because of that contract imo.
Well it also shows us that the Titans do not believe in any QB in the draft either so that is a positive.
This makes me nervous, I want Mariota and Winston to be unavailable by the time the Jets get to make their first pick. (Because I don't see either of those QBs as having the potential to be franchise QBs with the Jets.)
It's an interesting situation. It's reminding me (again, like last year) of 2008. The Fins and Rams both needed a QB and both passed on Matt Ryan who was not a consensus franchise QB. The Falcons scooped him up on the 3 and immediately improved to a playoff caliber roster but they've had horrible luck trying to get to the next level because as good as he is Ryan is not a franchise-level QB. I'd take a Matt Ryan caliber QB on the 3 next year and take my chances moving forward. The question is whether Mariota or Winston is at that level or not. Neither of them is a franchise QB but the question is whether they're good enough that you can slot them in for a decade and try to build a great roster around them.
Matt Ryan goes as his team does, like Eli, like Flacco, like Roethlisberger. He can play, just hast had the postseason success. Had he completed one more pass in that NFC Championship, perhaps he is viewed a tad differently.
If you have a QB you can build around for a decade, clearly he's worth an early first round pick even if he's not viewed as a HOF talent kind of QB. But if his upside is "pretty good", then he will most likely be at the Tannehill level or worse. So it's very risky to take a "good enough" guy that early. Getting an AJ Green or a Gronkowski could change the franchise in a big way. I think we should be careful and not overlook stars at impact positions in favor of QBs who we aren't totally sold on. It's just so hard to look at any 20 or 21 year old college QB and confidently say "His downside is a middle of the road NFL QB."
This is an interesting question. QB is so important that having a stable guy you can count on and build around seems to be a big plus. On the other hand the QB's who tend to win Super Bowls at this point are borderline Hall of Famers or better. (Yeah, that's a skewed argument in some ways since winning the Super Bowl heavily weights a QB's chances at the Hall of Fame.) Matt Ryan is not on the borderline at this point. Based on his accomplishments so far he has very little chance at the Hall of Fame. If the Falcons continue to play poorly he has no chance at all. Still, he's good enough that it seems likely that if he was surrounded by very good talent he'd get there eventually. I actually put Tannehill in a similar class to Ryan if not as accomplished at this point in his career. I think the move is working out for the Fins but in a Philip Rivers-lite manner at this point. I don't see a Super Bowl in Tannehill or Ryan's future given the teams that they play for but that's because those teams are somewhat inept at acquiring talent and maintaining an NFL roster at this point. Both coaches are pedestrian and unlikely to make the difference. A.J. Green makes the impact that he does because the Bengals roster is full of talent from top to bottom. They've done as good a job of finding talent over the last 5 years as any team in the NFL, including the Seahawks. Gronkowski is a reflection of Tom Brady and the Patriots offensive system. Very good player but would be two-thirds the player he is almost anywhere else. Yep. Chip Kelly has a leg up on evaluating Mariota but he only coached him for one year and then he left, which was not the move of a guy who thought he had a great QB to work with. I'd be really surprised if Kelly makes a big move for Mariota. I'd be even more surprised if it worked out.
I know but Kelly hasn't opened up his true offense yet either. I believe he is going to get desperate... His clock is ticking now imo...